"A Candle Loses Nothing By Lighting Another Candle" - Father James Keller

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Wayne Farquhar Reviews “Cyber Writers” by Karen Kostlivy

Cyber Writers by Karen Kostlivy

"My 11 year old son picked up Cyber Writers and read it in 2 days. I was curious so I picked it up. It’s a wonderful story with many great messages. It introduces different cultures, lands and people. This adventure centers on the love of family and stretches the imagination of our children. You'll absolutely love the talking panther!" ~ Wayne Farquhar

Two seemingly unrelated crimes – two seemingly unrelated killers – and two mysteries waiting to be solved …

The murder of the Mayor of San Francisco’s daughter sets the stage for this intriguing and spellbinding crime thriller. Two police detectives, Jack Paige and Casey Ford are assigned to catch a cold-blooded rapist and killer. In this gritty, realistic tale of homicide, unrelated mysteries of two murderers seem to come together and make little sense. What does a man rotting away behind the stench-enclosed walls of Angola Penitentiary have to do with an evil and cruel rapist and killer now on the run from California to Texas? What is the relationship to the killing of the Mayor’s daughter?

Bio: Wayne Farquhar is a 28-year veteran working with the San Jose Police Department in California. He has worked through the ranks from officer to lieutenant with detective assignments in Sexual Assaults, Homicide

and Internal Affairs. He has also worked undercover assignments in

Child Exploitation, Child Pornography and Vice. He spent 10 years as a

street cop and hostage negotiator. Wayne has worked on Federal Task

Forces with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI). He has appeared

on national television, /America’s Most Wanted/ on a murder investigation. BLOOD OVER BADGE is his first effort in crime-thriller

fiction, and he hopes to write more books and speak to larger

audiences about his experiences in law enforcement. Wayne lives with

his family in the San Francisco Bay Area.

If you would like to formally invite Wayne to speak about BLOOD OVER

BADGE or law enforcement to your organization, association, conference

I’ve asked myself “what’s the difference between me and my non-writer friends?” I mean, aside from the obvious … The answer came to me while I watched my 11 year old son play. He crashed space ships with huge drama. I listened while he made up voices and the sounds of destruction. I realized, he imagined everything necessary for a great book. His story: Star Wars Lego’s battle. His characters: Fighter pilots and ground-troop leaders barking orders (Dialogue) to storm troopers. Conflict: the battle. Plot: the battle. The light bulb went off in my head. Hey! I’m the goofy adult that still imagines like a child!

As children, it was natural for us to play and imagine. We did it every single day. It didn’t much matter if it was a doll or Army men. We used our imaginations and created stories and events. We had voices for our characters and some were heroic while others were not. Some characters were good and others evil. Each one had a specific role and place in our heart.

When it comes to writing, my characters are real in my mind. They have personalities, feeling, thoughts, relationships, history, quirks, hang-ups, problems, likes, dislikes, secrets: I could go on forever. I try to have 20/20 when I write a scene. I see it, smell it, feel it and taste it. It’s definitely not magical nor do I see myself as “gifted.” It’s practice! We grow up and the pressures of life drills down. We need to survive so we find work, build careers and relationships. Some of us start families and all of us get caught up in the many events that impact our daily lives. At the end of the day, we’re exhausted and we didn’t make much time for imagination. Days last forever and years fly by, right? Soon enough, we lose the art to imagine because we stopped practicing.

I understand why playing is exhausting for children. It’s the same reason writers are exhausted at the end of a writing day. It takes work and a conscious effort to be creative and stretch our imaginations. It doesn’t matter if we’re writing a book or crashing Star Wars Lego’s. We’re using our imaginations to create another world. And that alone, is my favorite aspect of writing. I get to create the entire world and all the players. Sound familiar?

I encourage you to practice using your imagination. It’s much easier if you enjoy writing. Give it a shot: it’s a lot of fun!

In accordance with the new FTC Guidelines for blogging and endorsements, Kiki Howell of An Author's Musings, would like to advise that in addition to purchasing my own books to review, I also receive books, and/or promotional materials, free of charge in return for an honest review, as do any guest reviewers.